Manhattan Institute's City Journal Celebrates 25 Years

Published 7:08 AM ET Thu, 29 Oct 2015
Globe Newswire

NEW YORK, Oct. 29, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- City Journal's Autumn 2015 issue, marking 25 years of publication, reflects on successes over the past quarter-century, while looking forward to new challenges facing American cities.

In his memoir of his years as editor of City Journal, Myron Magnet, editor from 1994 to 2006, reminds readers of the troubled New York of the early 1990s: a filthy and dangerous place from which both people and businesses were fleeing. "The profoundly depressing expert consensus: the more you knew about New York, the more you knew that there was nothing we could do to fix a calamitous mess," Magnet writes. "After all, wasn't this the 'ungovernable city'? But it wasn't."

City Journal writers led the debate for pragmatic reform, pushing ideas ranging from Broken Windows policing to welfare reform to school choice. When a receptive new mayor, Rudy Giuliani, took office in 1994, the magazine saw many of its ideas put into practice—with remarkable results. Today, New York is a cleaner, safer, and more prosperous city than many thought possible.

But challenges remain. Today, New Yorkers struggle to keep pace with the cost of living, especially in housing, the result of too many regulations and competing special interests—and not enough new construction. Charter and private school alternatives have rescued many students from failing public schools, but thousands remain stuck in underperforming schools, as teachers' unions and their political allies block reforms. And the city's transformative achievements in public order are threatened by a new opposition movement that wants to stop proactive policing. Similar problems beset other American cities.

"The urban renaissance of the 1990s and 2000s was the result of effective governance and public policy—but some of these gains are under threat, and much more needs to be done to secure a prosperous future for our cities," says Brian Anderson, the magazine's editor. "City Journal intends to provide the roadmap to that future."

The 25th anniversary issue examines what's working—and what isn't— in cities from Buffalo to Baltimore, Nashville to New York, Oklahoma City to Atlantic City. It offers a new vision for the American city that emphasizes the power of free people and free markets to create economic opportunity, ensure quality education for all children, and maintain public order.

"City Journal is the premier source for urban policy and thought from elite thinkers on the subject," says Manhattan Institute President Larry Mone. "The sizeable impact made over its first 25 years suggests incredible potential for the future. We look forward to supporting City Journal every step of the way."